John and Victoria Pappas opened up their beautiful home in Kogarah to the attendees for a wake after the service. Many of those at the church, but certainly not all, participated and I am quite sure that the Pappas' never anticipated the large crowd we drew. Everyone arrived in the brilliant sunshine that maintained throughout the daylight hours, some stayed for perhaps 30 minutes and others for the balance of the afternoon into the evening. The backyard of their lovely home boasts a nice pool and patio area and with the bar set up poolside it made for a very relaxing atmosphere. With the fine Aussie beer and wine the party atmosphere that developed once everyone had a drink in their hand was more than welcome. Belle and Matthew Sullivan's catering was excellent and making the food stretch for such a large crowd created a small challenge but one that was met with creative talent and a late afternoon raid of the Pappas' pantry! Thinking back on the initial belief that about 60 attendees would show up for Geoff's service made me constantly wonder how we could have underestimated that number so greatly but seeing the larger group reinforced our belief that our son was treasured by those we previously knew and many we did not.
Robin and Mag's neighbor, Stephen, had prepared a DVD based slide presentation of photos of Geoff from all stages of his life. Candi, Melissa, Jo and I had picked those photos over the last week from boxes, albums, hard drives and anywhere else they could be located. The DVD was displayed continuously on 2 different large screen televisions in the family room and living room. In the background was a constant loop of music that Jo had downloaded from Geoff's IPOD that accompanied the slide presentation. The bittersweet images of Geoff as a baby, toddler, child, teenager and young man were at the same time comforting and incredibly sad. While reminding us what we no longer had, the images reinforced the belief that our son was truly special and a ray of sunshine in the lives of all he had met during his too short lifetime. Various groups of young and old spent time viewing the perhaps 30 minute long presentation, many of them more than once.
I made it my personal goal to say hello to as many in attendance as I was able. For the reason to thank them for honoring our son and to perhaps gain some additional glimpses into the circumstances of their relationships and interactions. I met mates with whom he had studied Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, skiing partners, fellow university students, co-workers and some that only knew Geoff from his infrequent gigs as a DJ playing house music in clubs around the Central Business District. Geoff had been involved with a club baseball team in Arncliffe (The Scots) that he ultimately managed, possibly because of his American background but more likely a product of his love of the game. Some of those at the wake remembered him from those days. Every individual I came in contact with was someone I would have been proud to have as my own daughter or son. It has been said you can judge a person by the company they keep and this group earned the highest of marks. I was also able to spend some time with Joanne's parents and found them to be deeply caring and sorrowful about Geoff.
The afternoon flew by; Father Xavier Barry turned up for cake and a glass of wine. I spent some time chatting with him, thanking him for his caring, professional handling of the service at Our Lady of Fatima. At one point, Luke took me aside to remind me that I had an offering for Father Barry in my jacket pocket that I had set aside earlier in the day when I made the wrong turn at the ATM near Darling Harbour. I was a little embarrassed after having been reminded but I reengaged Father Barry and asked him to accept the gift. He delightedly slid the envelope into his pocket without looking at the contents, thanked the Pappas family for their hospitality and made his way out of the home. I followed him to his car and again expressed my appreciation. I found myself thinking how opposite he was from the first priest we were assigned and how lucky we were that he was available for this day.
As the evening fell the skies darkened significantly and rain started falling driving those that remained into John and Victoria's home to avoid getting soaked. When most had left for their homes, John Pappas called a cab for Robin, Candi, Melissa and me and we waited in the living room for quite awhile, chatting with John and Victoria and their boys before it arrived. It was still raining hard as we left the house in Kogarah in the taxi and I couldn't help but think of the symbolism of this day that started out with such glorious weather and evolved with the brilliant sunshine was now ending with non-stop tear drops from the heaven. The taxi driver transitioned us to Robin's house in Bexley North where Maggie and others were waiting.
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